This Is The Time
by kaze no akatsuki
Summary: Extreme circumstances caused Rin to be thrown back into the past, for his own good - but this doesn't end the way you think it does, since he was tossed into not only the very foreign time era of 1889, but also in a foreign country, England, in which he comes upon a certain Earl and his Demon...Blue Exorcist X Black Butler crossover, featuring our boy and his...nephew? WHAT?
1. Chapter 1

**I should not be doing this, but I've hit a brick wall and this fic will hopefully let me work through it. **

**That said, this is a crossover happening primarily in the Black Butler world. _But Kaze, why don't you post it over there then?_ Because frankly I don't want to deal with the fandom over there at the time. They don't seem to appreciate crossovers very much anyway. Besides, though this is happening in the Black-Butler _timeframe_, it is still being held to the standards of the Blue Exorcist _universe_, because frankly no one knows what the theological heirarchy of Black Butler is, and also because Rin is the main character here. ("Main" in my sense of "main"). **

**NOW, to set you up for the cannon reference, because I just can't bring myself to do complete AU's, and some of my readers will not inference it, due to my style: This is taking place as a _Cannon Divergence_ from ch. 99-1. Meaning, Rin has transformed and is his white-haired self; this fic begins two years post that, in which Rin was given a...special training regiment, to prepare for Lucifer. (Who is a pretty big part of the story). **

**As for the Kuro-verse, this takes place as Cannon Divergence around chapter 135 or so. Ciel is still looking for the Blue Cult killers, but Bravat has vanished and (Our) Ciel still has no idea his brother is involved beyond an inkling. **

**The rest will write itself into explanation. **

**WARNING: This is rated M mostly because of one vaguely smexy scene, though also because Black Butler is just a dark, dark series and that is very evident here. That said, if you don't like angst, then tread no farther; if you historically don't like my depictions of demon nature, then for god's sake, don't read it! Go find someone else to cobbswaggle.**

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"_There's no mercy for the weak of heart,_

_they'll be trampled down and torn apart._

_And as ruthless as it all may seem,_

_well, the wild cares not _

_for the weaker beings."_

_~ **Son of the Wolf**, Shawn James and the Shapeshifers._

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Out there in London, you were lucky if you survived.

Forget about living. There was no living in the city – the only people who bothered to stay were those who were good at scraping by, and those to poor to do anything otherwise.

It was one of the main reasons Ciel avoided going into town whenever he could. He could only stomach the place for so long, in more ways than one. Looking to his left, he was unsurprised when the stench filling his nose was identified as a run-over pile of manure.

"God, I hate the city."

"You and I both, young Master." Sebastian quipped, his nose turning up ever so slightly in obvious distaste. His observant gaze didn't dwell upon what lied beneath him though – no, never a thought for that – but rather scanned the mingling crowd around him, made up mostly of wives and daughters, seeing as they were in the center of the textiles district.

"How do you do it?" Ciel asked suddenly, a bout of curiosity a welcome distraction from the busy fare of the streets before them.

"Do what, young master?"

"Cope with all of the smells. I mean, demons have superior senses of smell, don't they? So how do you stay so underwhelmed by all of it?" Ciel had an intuitive idea of why, but his mind couldn't quite give shape to the thought.

" Well, I suppose it is the same way that you might focus on just one voice in a crowd, or focus your eyes on one area when there is motion all about you. My mind can process quite a lot of information at once, but even I have to filter out some useless things."

"Or else you'd go mad." Ciel remarked with a smirk. "I wonder if anyone has ever been comitted for that? Being unable to weed out stimulus sounds like a nightmare befitting of such a place." Sebastian's chuckle drew his gaze up to the butler's face, the subtle pull of his lips into something which could be interpreted as a smirk betraying his amusement.

"Your mind never ceases to intrigue me, young master. I had nearly the same thought."

"So you're telling me I think like a demon? Hah!" Ciel threw a humorless smile towards his servant. "though I suppose you have said that before, no?"

"Quite correct, young master. And it still manages to surprise me every time."

"Then I think you are too arrogant, to underestimate us humans as much as you do." Ciel said, looking ahead of him with what Sebastian would have guessed was a stern gaze. "You seem surprised by us far too often."

"Perhaps." Was all the butler could offer.

They continued on through the crowded streets, coming upon one Congregation Church of London, the only one that bothered to exist in the Rochester area for all the textile factories and apartments. It stood out in such a neighborhood, in no small part because it was boxed in on both sides by tall buildings and had deep alleyways on either side of it, and an all too ironic reputation for being the hangout place of the Rochester Workhouse lot – a raunchy bunch if the seedy smell wafting from the first alleyway was any indication.

As they passed the front of the old church, Ciel could only give it a glance. The place was hardly the most beautiful, though while it was certainly no St. Paul Cathedral, it did have the sort of charm that old, dilapidated things often did.

Ciel, not paying any attention as they approached the wayside alleyway, and Sebastian being heartily distracted by something unknown, both of them startled when, of all things, a _body_ came barrelling into the both of them, followed by a hefty shout.

"What the – ?!" Ciel staggered on his feet, trying desperately not to fall into the slick muck that painted the pavement. As he took register of his assailant, he couldn't help but interpret that the – man? – was trying to do the same, with little luck as his feet slid under him erratically. It wasn't until he stopped trying not to trip over himself that Ciel registered the shock of the white-silver hair, and more prominently, that it belonged on the head of a _boy._

More shouting drew Ciel to look behind him_, _seeing an old drunkard shaking his fist at the boy frantically, his ruddy face livid to have been imposed on, apparently.

"Who the devil are you?" Ciel demanded, earning the boy's frantic, confused and way too-blue eyes.

"_Nani_?" The boy said, looking in one part confused, in another quite frightened. He took a second to compose himself warily, before freezing altogether. The abrupt absence of movement left Ciel confused, until he_ heard_ it. Looking over at his butler, he was bewildered, and in no small way alarmed, to find Sebastian's pupils narrowed to fine elipses, though moreso because of the low, awful growl that rumbled from his chest like a creeping roll of thunder.

Sharing the boy's prior confusion and alarm, Ciel looked to their assailant, seeing him in a state of apparent confliction, if his face was to tell anything, though he raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture. He met Sebastian's gaze, however, and Ciel could tell that he was trying, non verbally, to communicate something. It was then that he noticed the boy's eyes, took a long look at them. Much to his shock, they beheld the same eliptical pupil he had seen in Sebastian's eye so many times.

_'Is he...human?_' Ciel thought. '_ he can't be – I mean, I know Sebastian is, but...?_'

" _Oi, ochitsukimashou, ne?_" The boy relented nervously. Ciel didn't understand a word of whatever language he was speaking, but looking to Sebastian's face confirmed that his butler did. Whatever he had said was enough to ease the demon's shoulders back down, his face uncomfortable but not quite _as _affronted.

"What did he say? And what language is that?" tensions out of the way, Ciel was brimming with questions, though he couldn't say they were all pure curiosity. Sebastian held up a hand to halt his mouth, presumably, making Ciel frown.

They exchanged words which sounded anything but like a formal greeting, though once more Ciel didn't understand a thing, except when the blue eyed, silver haired boy turned to him and uttered a word – _Gomenasai _– with an apologetic expression.

"He doesn't speak English, I'm afraid." Sebastian stated matter-of-factly, clearly still unsettled by their assailant's presence. Ciel grew confident in his curiosity, observing the boy as he shrank beneath Sebastian's warning gaze.

"Is he human?"

Sebastian turned an eye to him, the hardness of his iris betraying how much he didn't want to answer that question.

"No."

"Then what is he? He's not a reaper, that's for sure. But I'm not convinced he's a demon, either." Just then, the boy, seeming to recognize something in what Ciel said, made an erratic gesture to indicate such. He then, seeming excited by something, beckoned for the two of them to follow him back to the alleyway.

"Sorry, but we haven't the time." Sebastian said groutly, and began to walk off as if to leave the strange foreigner behind him. Ciel had a feeling that said foreigner wasn't going to let him – and he was proven right, as the boy rushed in front of the demon, making a gesture as to halt him. He said something else in his own tongue, which to Ciel sounded oriental in origin. After some back-and-forth, the boy then made a pleading gesture, his tone bordering on frantic.

"What's up with him? Does he need help?" Ciel asked, mostly to himself.

Then, he caught it – a word he recognized, one that most certainly didn't belong to his own language. Or rather, it was a name, a very well-known one at that :

_Mephisto_.

Ciel's mind began to turn like the gears of a clock. He knew the name, obviously, having heard it in stories growing up, as well as being in possession of the very German manuscript which contained the name, translated into English obviously. Faust was, after all, a very famous play, though Ciel couldn't say he had seen it performed anywhere recently.

A sudden rigidity to his butler's frame, and an otherwise worried look on the face of the boy drew Ciel up to them, cautious but curious as to what triggered the change.

'_He recognized the name, too?' _Ciel's mind was doing backflips like an imbalanced coin. '_Does that mean...he exists? That the infamous Devil is actually a demon?' _Ciel felt a bizarre urge to grin at the thought, but kept himself composed for the time.

A jerk of his arm had Ciel being practically thrown into the alleyway, safely out of both sight and earshot of the people who, curious themselves, began to lean their way to investigate.

"Don't mention that name in public." Sebastian warned, in English this time. He then went on to translate, presumably, since the only response he got was a bewildered stare.

"What did he want to bring us back here for to begin with?" Ciel asked Sebastian, who gave him a rather frightening look as if to tell him – nay, to_ threaten him_ to shut up and keep his head low.

And it pissed him off.

"Don't cop an attitude with me, servant," Ciel started, "you will ask him as I tell you to. I would do it myself, obviously, but you're the one who speaks his language, not me." Sebastian had a retort on his tongue, but let it die the moment that the stranger, sensing perhaps that they were arguing, waved his hands to garner their attention, before making a _calm down _gesture. He then indicated to the crowd outside, following with a motion for quietness.

"He's right." Ciel said, giving Sebastian one final look, daring him to continue with his foul mood. It continued anyway, though he regained his composure. Looking to the stranger, he asked him a question, and it took Ciel longer than he'd of liked to realize his butler was doing as asked.

" He doesn't speak a lot of english," Sebastian said, voice...uncertain. It was a sharp enough difference to draw Ciel's gaze to his face, determining his butler confused, presumably by whatever information the stranger gave him. "But he recognized that you were asking if he was a demon or not. He indicated for us to follow in order to..." Sebastian spared the boy a wary look. "...show you."

Ciel quirked a brow at this, looking to the boy, who if Ciel were being honest looked to be about Edward's age. Of course, if he was a demon, then he could be any age, theoretically, but Ciel needed to be sure. He had never met another demon besides Sebastian, after all. He could only guess this was because of Sebastian's possessive tendencies, though he wasn't honestly sure, now that he thought about it.

The boy then did something mildly lewd, reaching for his backside. It was then that Ciel saw fit to be distracted by his attire, which was an all-black, almost military-styled black coat with lots of pockets and heavy, combat-like boots. Completely unsure what to make of that assessment, he looked back up towards the boy's face, and found, to his complete astonishment, a long, fluffy white-haired _tail_, tipped in thicker fur much like a lions – if this lion was having a very bad hair day, that is.

"What – ?" The pieces reluctantly clicked together in Ciel's head. He missed the snippet of words that the boy said to Sebastian, but he picked up on the confessional tone, and Sebastian's classically sardonic laughter.

"You are but a baby." Sebastian bore his teeth in an eerie grin, alarming Ciel somewhat, who felt like he ought to be the foreigner in the situation.

'_Well, they're both demons, so I suppose I am the outsider here.' _Sebastian chuckled again, throwing his head back in an effort to stifle his laughter. "You really are helpless, aren't you?"

Ciel could tell that. though he probably hadn't understood the words being said, that the boy definitely understood the condescending tone, and was less than pleased about it. That said, Ciel didn't think that the boy had picked up from the butler-demon the same thing that he did – for Ciel had known Sebastian long enough to notice the slight jilt in his tone, a subtle undercurrent of, distrust, maybe? Wariness? Whatever it was, it was subtle enough that for a moment Ciel almost thought he hadn't heard it – until he considered the name he heard earlier. _'Does he make Sebastian uneasy?' _Ciel thought, observing the two as they conversed a bit more, but not really paying much attention to what they said – not with their mouths, anyway. ' _Does it have to do with how he reacted earlier to the name? Mephisto?_' Ciel watched Sebastian's posture, noticing that, rather than keep up with the cocksure attitude, that Sebastian seemed strangely withdrawn, keeping all parts of himself well out of the other demon's personal space. ' _I mean, I suppose that could just be because he doesn't know this demon; I would be wary too, if I were them_.' But Ciel couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the way they were interacting; as if both too careful, in Sebastian's case, and too casual, too comfortable, if he could call the foreigner such for all the grief he was in. From what observation that Ciel could understand, there was a clear form of hierarchy or some such structure being displayed between them, though who outranked who in this instance, he couldn't ascertain.

After some back-and-forth, Sebastian turned back to his master, an uncharacteristically confused, yet carefully composed look about him. Clearly, he got something out of the foreigner which had either left him dumbstruck or deeply unsettled – Ciel couldn't decide which. "So? What is the situation?" Ciel asked a bit reluctantly, gathering a hunch.

"It would appear our foreign friend, whose name is Rin, by the by," Sebastian began, leading into his words with an edge that Ciel quirked a brow at. However, by the time he'd formed the expression on his face, it had smoothed out and left the demon composed and calm as ever. _'What was that about?' _

"...has nowhere to go."

"Huh?" Ciel's mind came back to him then, like a lifted viel.

"My my, Young master, were you listening to me at all?"

"Shut it. I was distracted by the..." Ciel peered around Sebastian's tall body. "...tail."

"Yes, about that," Sebastian looked back on the boy, who had a strange, black-ish box in his hand. A cigarette case? But the cover was obviously glass, and glass would make the thing too hot... "He has apparently been...well, for the sake of brevity, he was in a sense _pranked_ into coming here." Sebastian explained, curiously keeping his eyes on the boy, Rin, rather than himself.

"A prank?"

"Yes, of kinds. Well, demon kinds." Sebastian clarified, finally turning to look at his master. " Alas, he doesn't speak english hardly at all, and for the time being has no place to –"

"No."

"Hm?"

"I said, no." Ciel huffed. "I am not taking in another street dog without a home. Especially not a demon one." Ciel stated crossly, unsurprised that his hunch was correct. " I know nothing of the boy, you presumably don't know anything either –"

"I know it would be unwise to leave him here."

Ciel blinked hawkishly at Sebastian's insistance. Something definitely wasn't right about all this, and it seemed as if Sebastian knew more than he let on.

"And why is that?"

"Because he is one of a kind. In fact, I would wager he is the _only one_ of his kind." Sebastian explained in a hushed tone. "He would be in mortal danger if he was left out here, in a foreign country where he can't effectively communicate with the people, and morso, can't conceal his demon power the way I can." He looked to Rin as if inviting Ciel to assess, and in all likelihood, agree. "He is young. Pathetically so." Ciel frowned at Sebastian's none-too-thrilled tone, tired of getting mixed signals from the demon. Was he anticipatory? Cautious?

That's when it dawned on him.

Sebastian was being _anxious_. It was an uncommon emotion for the butler to express, so Ciel had initially missed it.

"I assume you mean that he can't hide his tail and whatnot," Ciel looked the boy over again, taking note for the first time that his ears were at dog-like points. "Using magic?"

"Correct." Sebastian nodded. Ciel did the same.

He looked over the boy again, mulling over the choices at hand. When Sebastian went to affirm a response from him, Ciel merely raised a hand to halt it. He needed to think. This boy – and Sebastian's affirmation of such – was still a _demon_. Sebastian said he was the only, and perhaps last, of his kind; what did he mean by that? What, more so, was he supposed to make of it? Rare type specimens often left very little information to go on, and though Sebastian seemed to know_ something_, Ciel was positive he didn't know nearly enough; or else he wouldn't share it with his master.

Assessing what he did know took a bit of a mental exercise, if for no other reason than because the only real example of a demon that Ciel had to compare with was Sebastian. And this boy, Rin, didn't seem anything like him at all – quite the opposite if he was being honest with himself. Of course, Ciel couldn't understand him, so it was entirely possible he was misjudging the boy, but he couldn't honestly say that he got a 'bad' vibe off of him, even if all of his previous assessments – his strange clothing, for one thing, and Sebastian's odd behavior another – would point to his instincts telling him wrong.

"Can you handle him?"

"Excuse me?"

"If he gets out of hand or otherwise can't be trusted, can you handle him?" Ciel asked pointedly, refusing to break eye contact with the demon. He was hiding something, and Ciel would eventually work out what it was, or else he would just have to order it out of his butler.

The carefully blank stare that he got in response didn't help dispel his suspicions at all; in fact, it only made him that much more wary of Sebastian's response. "I could, within reason, see him out of the manor, yes." Ciel didn't like the latent hesitancy in that reply, but chose to ignore it for now. He could get all that he wanted out of Sebastian later.

"Good. Then.." Ciel sighed, mentally preparing. "I suppose we ought to take him home. Where is he from, anyway?"

"Japan. Tanaka will be able to communicate with him as well, so there's not as much need for concern there." Noting Sebastian's marked improvement in mood, Ciel felt a clench in the pit of his stomach.

"Then invite him along, I haven't got all day."

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**Well, one chapter done. **

**I actually have a plot outline this time, so hopefully this can continue. I can never guarantee fast updates, but I do try. **

**Also, as much as I normally appreciate fandom assistance, I will not be making any requested additions to this series. THAT INCLUDES SEB/CIEL PAIRINGS. That's a whole other horror fic that I'm in no state to write at the time. There will be some light heat overall, but no real pairings on the Black Butler side. There's just too much to unpack there right now. Sorry. **

**If you like this, or any of my other stuff, I have a Tumblr now: PhilosophicalParadox is my username there. Feel free to fav this fic if you like it; if not, that's okay. Not everyone likes the same tea. :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**I'll lead into this chapter with something I really never do: A shout-out. **

**This chapter comes to you from the ever-present TheBeingOfEverything, whose kind review was enough to keep me going for a while yet. (Not to mention that interesting Heat fic – which you should totally go check out if you're into Meph/Rin/Amaimon. I don't usually like Heat fics, being a biologist, but that one got me good). I'm not one to dwell on the personal, but a lot has been happening lately, so thank you for being supportive. Also, yeah, I will eventually get around to finishing up_ Unbecoming _– but alas, there are some "bridge" scenes I'm just not in the right frame of mind to write at this time. (those pesky scenes that we all dread to have to push through) . **

**I want to thank all of you for your patience at this time. :)**

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" _And as it gets dark in this house of hallways,_

_and no corridor leads to the stairs;_

_with still-wet black paint on all the windows – _

_we got no clocks, 'cause time don't care, here._

_'_

_So tell me your name young noble stranger,_

_tell me just what we're doing here?_

_Have you painted walls with all the answers?_

_Have you hidden doors with all our fears?"_

_'_

_~House of Hallways,_by_ Go Radio._

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The carriage ride home was endured in silence, the foreign boy, Rin, keeping mostly to himself. He seemed interested in the horses at first, and made sure to greet them before he got in. Ciel could say he had seen stranger things, and so left it be. He seemed to be a fairly agreeable young man, even if Sebastian acted oddly around him. His eyes held not the same cold and bitter darkness that Sebastian's did, though there was certainly some kind of _something_ there. What, specifically, Ciel couldn't guess at, though he had to assume it was what incurred Sebastian's bizarre, if respectful, distance from the boy.

When they arrived at the manor, the first servant to greet them was, naturally, the footman – however...

Snake, appearing to sense the same thing Sebastian had at the alleyway, went into a rigid, taught stance once he made eye contact with the visitor, his body held in place by imaginary rods as he observed their guest. Rin, who seemed just as taken off guard, backed up a step, his pointed ears dropping, by some measure that Ciel, as a human, couldn't begin to guess at. Rin's expression became defensive, his posture following suit. _'He was calm and collected facing Sebastian, yet expects Snake to attack him?' _Just then, Ciel caught Rin's gaze where it fell, not upon Snake himself, but upon Emily, the otherwise common rat snake coiled on Snake's shoulder. She, sensing her master's tensions, was puffed to fight, neck whipping into a threatening 'S' posture with her body flattened vertically in the way of her kind.

A rasping hiss drew Ciel's gaze around in confusion, as the sound certainly didn't come from Emily. Looking back to Rin, Ciel found he had taken several long strides backwards, putting a distance between him and Snake. Or, to be more precise, him and _the_ snake.

Rin spoke something to Sebastian just as the butler came between them, his tone indicating both discomfort and poorly hidden fear. Ciel would have laughed, if the raspy hiss hadn't just then identified itself, as not Emily, no; she was far to small to make such a threatening sound, but rather the deep, rasping hiss came from_ Snake_ himself, his eyes pinned to the boy with caution and confusion, but underneath that lied something considerably more disturbing, for Snake's eyes betrayed in him a will that Ciel hadn't known his servant capable – harm. There was a threat hidden behind those icy eyes, reluctant though it was. Ciel observed his servant's hunched posture and low head, and concluded that he was just as terrified of Rin as Rin was of him – or Emily, for that matter.

"Snake, that is quite enough." Sebastian warned. Ciel backed out of the way, wanting no part of the less harmless creatures Snake kept on his person, as they decidedly lacked the impulse control their master did and would strike at anything which approached him. Snake looked up at Sebastian only briefly before his pale-eyed gaze returned to Rin. It occurred to Ciel then, and not for the first time, that Snake might very well be a demon of his own sort – though if he were one, then he didn't seem to know it.

It wasn't as if he hadn't considered the idea before – after all, there were quite a few supernatural qualities which his servant would seem to possess, not the least of which was a telepathic communication with snakes. But since Sebastian tolerated him so well, Ciel hadn't ever particularly given a form to those musings beyond his usual ponderings.

Now, however, he couldn't seem to stop himself from doing so, particularly as Rin all but cringed away from Snake, who from the corner of Ciel's eye could be found in an unfamiliar, aggressive pose, teeth bared with a drawn and, frankly, hellish hiss on his tongue.

"Snake." Sebastian said clearly, drawing said servant's attention. His pale eyes betrayed his utter confusion, an awareness making itself known to Ciel with a startling revelation. No, startling didn't begin to do the emotion justice after the day he had; to say the revelation merely startled him wasn't enough, not when his heart had all but jumped into his throat like a clumsy toad, leaving a bitter, biley taste in his mouth. How it had escaped his attention was undoubtedly Sebastian's doing, and so his surprise very, very rapidly turned in on itself to form a white-hot strike of rage, sudden in it's onset enough to make him feel ill.

_ He **knew** Sebastian was a demon._

Ciel cataloged the information for later reflection, finding his lack of knowledge of this matter both insulting and unsettling. But he had bigger problems right now than the secrets his butler kept from him, which seemed to be counting up lately.

"Snake, it's okay. He's a guest – one Sebastian practically invited." Ciel explained, holding his hands up in a placating gesture, one meant more to ease the serpents which writhed wildly about him from within and without his clothes. He would say he trusted Snake, but his wilder friends were a different story. Sebastian turned to Rin then, asking him a question of kinds. Ciel observed, with a barely restrained chuckle, as the boy indicated with incredulous expression to the serpents, before making a biting gesture with two fingers on his wrist. Sebastian didn't seem convinced, or at least said something which would indicate such. Rin, seeming almost offended, made wild articulations as he explained himself, once more indicating to the snakes.

"Oh?" Sebastian piqued. It was enough to distract Ciel from Rin's theatrical movements. He approached Sebastian, looking to his servant's face where a slight brightening had occurred in his otherwise dark eyes. To say it worried him would not have said nearly enough.

"What is it?" Ciel meant to ask the question in sincerity, but his irritation at having a deficit amount of information slipped through the cracks without his awareness, leaving the question sounding more like the snappy bark than a genuine inquiry.

"He is apparently not immune to venom in the same way I am." Sebastian replied coolly, ignoring his master's attitude. He quite considered himself a pro at it by now. "And, obviously, has a conscientious fear of snakes thusly. He also tells me of a battle he fought against a hydra, of all things, in which he did _not_ come out the victor." Sebastian's tone became nearly sarcastic. "Though if you ask me, he won by mere measure of coming out of the fight _alive_, if his story is to be believed."

Rin, having put a safe distance between himself and the snakes, along with the half-demon servant who apparently owned them, examined the mansion he had been taken to. _'Man, this guy has money. Not exactly a Mephisto kind of money, but he's not exactly poor.' _He turned to the butler, whose name he didn't know, and wasn't sure if it would have mattered anyway. "Hey, where's his parents?" He asked, coming to the conclusion just then that there might be strange nobility that he would have to deal with. The idea made him nervous.

"They are deceased." The butler replied simply. "They died in a house fire some two and a half years ago, leaving the young master as the only heir." Rin half-balked at the information, his mind taking a moment to process it.

"Oh." Was all that he could respond with. Did that mean he owned this whole place? All by himself? Rin looked over at the kid, who the butler had named as Ciel. "So he's here all alone?"

"Not alone, no. There are other servants here besides myself." the butler responded with a kind of half-proud intonation. Rin observed him keenly.

"You remind me of someone I know." He admitted finally. When he had first run into the butler on the street, he was struck – in more ways than one – how much the man physically resembled Belial, though he supposed that could just be the clothing. But what ran deeper than that, the thing which scared him about this guy, was not his intimidating height or cool gaze, but his_ energy_ signature.

Rin looked away after a few moments, noticing that the butler was back to talking to his 'master'. _'Is he a familiar?' _Rin thought cautiously. He felt the demon's energy all around the house, blanketing the area like a sticky fog. It choked and gagged anything that walked into the place, including Rin himself. _'Some defense measure. No one walking by this place wouldn't think there was a demon living here.' _But maybe that was the point. Looking at the demon, he felt a clench in his gut that sent a shiver up his spine. _'No way he's a familiar, especially not to a kid like that. He's way too strong for that.' _and Rin couldn't shake the sense of familiarity he got from the butler, as if somewhere they had maybe gone past each other? It was the kind of familiarity you got when you recognized a face, but weren't sure where you had seen them before. Except that instead of recognizing his face, Rin faintly recognized his energy; it was dark and clingy, and faintly foreboding in it's nature. Not unlike a certain Ba'al he knew of...

Rin took a few breaths to calm himself. Of all the things, why did it have to be guarded by snakes? Rin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. What ever happened to having a dog? But then, Rin realized as he looked to the butler, _'I suppose you don't need a guard dog with a demon like that around.'_

The idea unsettled him, frankly. Years of exorcist training had taught him a few things, and one of them was how to spot a bad situation. A demon, a half demon, and a young boy who had no parents and no siblings – did he have siblings? Rin didn't know, but guessed not by the butler's reply – living together with no clear pretense? If that didn't have 'suspicious' written all over it in bright, bloody letters, then he didn't know what did. Rin might not be bright by demon standards, but he wasn't stupid either; there were only so many ways a kid ended up with demons as servants, and none of them boded well.

_'Damn, but there's nothing I can do.' _Rin thought, coming up empty with solutions in light of his situation. _'Mephisto said, when he took me to the past before, not to interfere with things, because it would send us into a different timeline, and that would not be good.' _Rin dwelled on the thought a minute longer, really taking in the seriousness of it. _'No, because if I end up in a different timeline, even if I'm still in the same time, how will I know? And how will I get home again? Mephisto can probably find me anywhere – assuming he's even looking. Or watching. Or whatever it is he does.' _Rin huffed out loud quietly. _'Damn you Mephisto! What even was the point?' _Rin didn't know.

"Come. I will show you to a room you can stay in for the evening." The butler addressed him, coming up the steps. "Morning comes early around here, but considering the time difference, you will be permitted for two days to adjust your schedule."

"Two days?" Rin said incredulously. "That's hardly anything! You did hear me when I said I come from a different time era, right?"

"Of course I did. But unfortunately, things are the way they are here – regardless of your experiences, you are here now, and thus will have to adjust to living – in the now."

"Ugghhhh..." Rin groaned despite himself. "Does that mean I have to get up at sunrise?"

"Well, just after sunrise is typical this time of year. However it is not unusual in the winter months to be awake before the sun has come up over the hills." Rin resisted a second groan successfully this time. Nonetheless his expression must have betrayed him, for the butler had a half of a grin on his face – were it a full one, it might have been full of shit.

"By the way, what do they call you here? I don't need to know your demon name or anything like that," _'Though I wish I did, in a way. Better to resist temptation, though. Can't kill a demon half so easily if you don't know the name they were incarnated by.' _"But I have to be able to call you something."

"The name the servants here know me by is Sebastian." The butler replied. Rin had to resist a balk. _'Seriously?'_* "It is the name my master gave me, also, though the servants do not know this." As they approached a room in the upper hallway, Rin had to remind himself to count how many doors they passed going back so he could tell where it was in the lineup of rooms. The butler, Sebastian, turned to Rin then, his expression suddenly very stern and his jaw grave.

"That said," He began, his voice chipped like glass, and equally as sharp. Even though he spoke at barely a whisper, his voice sounded so, so much louder in Rin's head. "None of the servants here technically know of my true nature, and so it is that I would prefer to keep it. I do not know how things are like where you hail from, but here, exposure as a demon is tantamount to death." _'Not too much difference there, actually.' _"The servants do suspect, however, and are not completely ignorant of supernatural occurrences."

"How could they not be? There's a half-demon snake living among them!" Rin replied, a bit confused. "Can they not see him that way?"

"I believe they can, but humans choose what they want to see; I have reason to think they suspect me as a demon, but because I am effectively their main employer, they do not want to, in a sense, see me that way." Sebastian explained. It wasn't lost on Rin how similar that sounded to what Mephisto had said some years ago. "How they will interpret you, I do not know, but I would strongly encourage you to keep a low profile, if you can."

"Eh..." Rin didn't miss how much his suggestion sounded like a demand, but kept it to himself. He was a bit more preoccupied with how, exactly, he was going to keep his tail hidden.

"I can try," He offered the butler, hand covering his neck self-consciously. "but I have only really been training with my powers for a few years now. I can keep my flames in check, but only if I don't lose my cool." Rin explained as delicately as possible. Frankly, he didn't want Sebastian to be suspicious of him any more than the demon already was; having his host think he was a ticking time bomb didn't seem like it was wise. "It takes a lot to make me that angry, but I can't discount the possibility. I...I'm not always so good at controlling my impulses, to be honest." Rin said, his head falling to his chest in embarrassment. God, to have to explain this to someone was just...it was so much worse than he ever thought it would be, especially since things were so...different, here.

"That's quite alright." Sebastian said, his voice odd. Rin looked up to his face, but found it impassive as ever. "You are quite young, after all."

"You sure?" Rin said, hinting at the oddity he sensed earlier.

"I have never been in the presence of such a young demon." Sebastian explained simply. "It is quite the experience for me as well in this situation. I am a person who is generally prepared for things; you were...unplanned." Rin nodded. He understood perfectly.

"Yeah, I get that. I wasn't exactly expecting to get tossed back into the past, either, so we're kind of on the same page there." Sebastian seemed somewhat comforted by Rin's words, or at least he nodded to acknowledge them.

Sebastian gave him a rundown of the house rules, like no cussing in the presence of the young master, don't wander the house after dark, don't go outside after dark, let the servants sleep, be careful not to open doors without knocking, etc. and told Rin he would meet the rest of the staff tomorrow. He then left the half demon alone to retire for the evening. It was as Rin was examining the large bed, covered with a fine and very expensive looking quilt, that he realized he was missing something.

"Oh crap, what am I going to do about clothes?!"

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**Again, thank you for keeping patience with me. Life is trying to run me over right now, so updates are likely to fluctuate. **

**That said:**

***_Sebastian_: **For those of you that don't know, Sebastian is kind of the de-facto name for butlers in Japan. In fact, Sebastian's name is precisely a mockery of that fact. Why or how 'Sebastian = butler' in Anime, I have no idea, but Yana named him that _because_ of the trend.

**Anyway, have a nice day! And if you enjoyed this fic, do either comment/follow/favourite it below! I would appreciate some motivation to come out of my dark hiding place right now. :) See you, hopefully, soon! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Ah, chapter three...or, four? I decided to combine chapters here because the original was not quite as substantial of a read as I'd of liked. That said, this is a fair bit longer than my usual 3k words. You have been warned. **

**I want to thank my reviewers again. I always enjoy your commentary. **

**Also, the snake thing from last chapter is a kind of running joke off Rin's fight with Hachiro, which I can imagine left him a bit leery of serpents of any kind since he got his ass kicked. **

**ALSO, While I am not taking requests, I do feel bad not including my readers in my formulation, and since I am always looking for things to throw at offending characters in crossovers, I will take a kind of poll: **

**You have two choices to pick from, one I was going to do, and one I am considering: **

**Choice A: **

**In an AU kind of sense, I am considering throwing Alois and the primary persons of the Trancy household into this mess; obviously, they aren't canon characters, and wouldn't be around for very long, but it is something dwelling on my brain (Because as much as I hate Alois, I love him to death) for purely "let's see how Rin reacts to this" reasons. **

**Choice B: **

**I was considering having an improptu "Family dinner" situation in which Rin must cope with Ciel's immediate family. This was the original idea, but it gets...er, kind of ugly. Rin has no concept that Church and Country are one in the same here, and that Protestants and Catholics absolutely hate each other, so...yeah. While Francis doesn't strike me as religious, she is a product of her time, and the fact he has associations with the vatican does not dwell well on her...or Sebastian. **

**Let me know the kind of drama you would like. :) Unfortunately I can not do both, as the circumstances would not be able to cross over each other. (Whichever you choose will make apparent why). Whichever review count for each one is highest will "win". **

**Now, on to the theatrics!**

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"_...And I am seized now by a yearning, long-lost,_

_for the still and silent spirit realm,_

_as in unsteady tones, my whispered song,_

_as from an Aeolian harp,_

_hangs in the air. _

_A shudder overtakes me,_

_tear follows tear._

_The stern heart lets itself grow soft and calm._

_What I possess, I see as far away,_

_and what has vanished becomes reality."_

_**Dedication to Faust**__, by Wolfgang von Goethe._

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Night brought unto the house a phantom.

It whispered past the curtains, a stalking cat among the reeds. The night was clear, the moon giving the room a sulking atmosphere where it dared to peer between the fabric, illuminating the bed, along with it's snoring inhabitant, in a silken light. Night was the nature of the creature which approached, a time when his livelihood didn't depend on keeping up appearances. It was the hours of freedom that kept him sane in a world that forced him to play pretend, to put on a clown mask and don the air of a fool, all so that he could live amongst the mortal kinds without having a mob run him ragged for their ignorance.

He observed his student, slumbering on the bed, entirely unawares of the company he now kept. _'My, you still haven't resolved yourself to sleep better, have you Okumura?' _He approached, deft and silent fingers slipping a fine sheet of folded paper beneath his pillow. _'You are far, far too adorable when you sleep, you know. Entirely too easy to pounce on, were I not possessed of the mind you would kill me once you woke.' _The tall demon merely smiled, before leaning over the sleeping boy below him, lips touching upon his neck with a feather's touch. "You will find me before I find you, sleeping boy. It makes no sense now, but you will know it in time, when the threads of space are fine and silk is what you grasp upon in vain." The words would stay etched into his subconsciousness like a spell, reminding him of what direction to seek when he felt lost. Fingers delicately worked a gift around the boy's throat, a quick enchantment spurring the gem it held into action. _'When you wake, you will know the world.' _It was all Mephisto could offer him now.

He stopped just shy of the window through which he came, key in hand. He looked over his shoulder, watching Rin shift about. _' You are on your own from here, Rin. Let us hope you survive this change in atmosphere. I think you will find, that the lives of those around you can not be taken for granted this time. You must act, or you will surely die.' _

With those final words thought and business done, the demon turned away silently, and was gone as quickly as he had come.

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Ciel tapped his plate impatiently. It was well past noon, and his plate lay emptied of food, which had gone cold by the time he had given up waiting for their guest to arrive, and still he sat there, waiting.

"Are you sure you can't just go wake him up?" Ciel asked once again, voice indignant.

"I have never had to wake a demon which was actually sleeping; I have no way of knowing how he will react to such disturbance, and considering the information he imparted to me about being of a fire elemental, I would prefer not startle him awake."

"Lest he burn the house down." Ciel finished. He sighed, bored.

"He is also from a foreign country, where the time difference is measured at nearly eight hours. If he does, with any regularity, sleep," Sebastian's voice made it obvious how strange of a thing he thought that to be. Ciel had to concur with him on that. "then it is entirely possible that he has simply not adjusted."

Just then, as if summoned by the mention of his being, this Rin person appeared, looking...

"Are you...okay?" Ciel asked worriedly, taking in the sight of their guest, who looked as if he had been run ragged and then tossed through a fan. In a word, he looked absolutely_ terrible_.

"Nah...I'm...okay..." Rin replied with a thick accent. It took Ciel far too long, and with far too much blinking, to register that he had been replied to..._without Sebastian translating_. He looked to his butler, not sure he hadn't just imagined it, but to his dismay, found Sebastian just as bewildered as he was.

"Are you certain?" Ciel asked, moreso to investigate the phenomena than out of worry this time.

"Yeah." And just like that, without a moment's hesitation, came a reply. Ciel decided to probe farther, to see how much their foreign guest seemed to understand him. He observed the boy closely, noticing with a troubled feeling that the corners of his eyes were crunched, a clear indication by any standards that he was in pain.

"Are you hurt?" Ciel decided to ask, going out on a cautious limb. Rin rubbed his head in such a way as to confirm it, taking his time to answer.

"My head hurts a lot." Came a clear, and more importantly,_ English_ answer. Ciel had no idea what to make of it.

"Oh, by the way," Rin continued, fishing around in his pocket. Ciel noticed then that Sebastian had either failed to give the boy proper clothing, or he had refused to wear them this morn- well, it was afternoon, now. "I woke up to this," He held out in his fingers an opened letter, which was...pink?

"It's a letter from Mephisto."

Ciel's thoughts halted in their tracks. A complete and empty freeze crept over the gears in his brain before stopping them entirely; it wasn't until he felt them begin to thaw a moment later that he could actually process what he'd just heard.

"Yeah, I know – everyone get's a little...er, freaked out?" Rin scrunched his face, seeming to deliberate if that was the words he wanted to say. "When he just...poofs." Rin articulated with his hands in a circular gesture that Ciel wasn't sure he understood.

"Poofs?"

"Yeah. He comes, he goes – _poof_." Rin looked at Ciel, searching for some sign he understood him, but gave up after all he received was a confused, blank stare. "Nevermind." Rin said, voice catching in his throat. He couldn't say he wasn't thankful that Mephisto gave him the stupid necklace, but suddenly changing languages literally overnight was a bit straining on the vocal chords.

"How are you speaking English?" Ciel asked after a moment, eyeing a black, choker-like band around the boy's throat, which had a rather pretty blue gemstone in the center of it. Coincidentally, the boy pointed to said pendant.

"It's a charm. Mephisto gave it to me while I was sleeping, I guess...it's some kind of translator-thing, or at least that is what the note says." He held up said pink letter in his hand, making eye contact with Ciel. To be honest, the boy's unfailing confidence was both encouraging and intimidating to Ciel; his confidence was so, so much..._different_, from Sebastian's that it made him pause to think about almost any action the boy made; the fact he seemed fond of eye contact when Ciel himself was not, made it all the more so.

"And what else does this letter say?" Sebastian asked, a worrying frown on his brow, though he kept his jaw lax. Ciel looked at him closely, reading the finer details of his face to determine his mood; Sebastian could be hard to work with if you didn't know how to read him. Ciel looked again, and found his butler to once more be in none to thrilled a mood over the news. _'but why?'_

"Eh, just some... stuff...he said he wanted _me_ to find _him_, though, which I kind of expected..."

"But?" Sebastian offered, sensing there was more to be had.

"But that's a problem." Rin said flatly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Mephisto is not the kind of guy you just... _find_." He yawned, exposing his unhidden canines. "Es'pecially when he doesn't want to be found."

"But you just said...?" Ciel asked, tired of being confused. Sebastian had all too elegantly avoided or outright dodged his master's questions last night, and so Ciel was left in the dark now more than ever.

"Yeah, but I'm not looking for _that _Mephisto." Rin, sensing he as annoying the kid, tried to make his brain think of a better explanation.

"It's like this," Rin began, hoping he would get the words right. The translator was good, but not foolproof according to Mephisto's letter, so he still had a chance of messing up. "There's a Mephisto who lives _now,_ and a Mephisto who lives in _my time_." Still finding that the kid was coming up blank, Rin turned to Sebastian, only to find his expression telling.

"You didn't explain any of that to him yet, did you, butler?" Rin said in disdain.

"I hadn't thought it pertinent yet. Besides, the young master can be quite cranky when tired, and furthermore wouldn't have believed me anyhow." Ciel shot the demon a dirty look, but kept his composure for now.

"Believed what?" Another look was exchanged between the two, before Rin began, his exhaustion evident in spite of his long sleep.

"I'm not from here – and by that, I don't just mean that I'm from another country, but a different _time_ era."

Ciel considered this, and sure enough, he didn't want to believe it. It must have shown on his face, for the boy continued, pulling that strange cigarette box out of his coat pocket again.

"Look," He fiddled with the thing, pushing a small button on the side. Then, much to Ciel's shock, the entire glass piece of the case lit up, as if a wick had been lit on the inside.

"What is _that_ thing?"

"A cell phone."

" A... what?" Ciel asked, peering at the item suspiciously.

"It's a way to communicate long distances. Wait, phones have been invented yet, yeah?" Rin asked Sebastian suddenly, getting a nod in reply. "But they look nor function whatsoever like yours." He added, indicating towards the device with a nod.

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure how phones here are like, but mine works by satellites."

"Sat...ellite?"

"Yeah. Those might be kinda hard to explain to a kid, though..." Ciel, not liking being referred to as a child twice, felt an annoyed twitch forming in his brow. "A-anyway, it lets me talk to other people who have one, without wires or anything. It sends a signal, and that signal turns into sound...somehow." Rin shrugged, looking sheepish. "Y'know, I actually don't know that much about how they work."

"And this...cell, phone," Ciel said suspiciously. "It only exists in the time you are from?"

"Well, yeah, I mean...I don't think they're invented for...oh, wait, what year did you say it was?" He once more asked Sebastian.

"1889."

"Right, so 2016 is, what, a hundred and thirty years from now?" Rin guessed out loud, counting mentally...with his fingers as backup. "So, like, about a_ hundred _years from now?"

"You're from _a hundred thirty years_ in the _future?!"_ Ciel asked incredulously. He could say he was comfortable accepting that a demon of all things could probably travel through time, but such a distance?

"Yeah, I don't know why Mephisto did it either. I mean, he has taken me back to the past before, but not this far back." A question popped into Ciel's head then.

"You didn't come here yourself?" In hindsight it seemed like a rather dull question to ask, but Rin's response made it worth the stupidity.

"Well, no. Only Mephisto can go through time like that. He gives me keys sometimes that open up to other time eras, or other dimensions, but only _he_ has the kind of power to send me here." Rin explained openly. "He can control space and time, so theoretically, he could have thrown me back even farther," Rin shuddered at the idea. "But the..." He fumbled with the letter then, opening it and glancing at it – nay, squinting was more like it. "The 'Victorian Era' is what he calls it, is where I am now."

Ciel took a while to process this. So, their guest was, by some means of demonic nature, from the future? A long ways into the future, at that. Far too long for anyone alive now to know him then...the logic of this "mephisto's" choice was forming in his mind. At least, he figured it was; he had no earthly way of knowing what ways a demon thought, per se, but if he didn't try to make sense of this he'd go mad.

"Regarding that name," Sebastian replied, tone just slightly abrasive as he addressed Rin, making it clear he was repeating himself – something Sebastian did not at all like to do, " You did say there was an alias of less suspicious form you could use to refer to him, yes?"

"huh?" Rin, whose mind for all the world seemed so much slower than Sebastian's, caught his thoughts up to the statement word by word. _'Stupid translator'. _"Yeah, I guess it would be bad to keep calling him by that name...so I'll try to use his 'formal' alias from here on out."

"And that is?" Ciel inquired.

"Johann." Rin said simply. "Technically, he's Johann the Fourth, but...well they're basically the same person, because he doesn't die..." Rin had to back up mentally over what he had said, coming up short in the moment for what he wanted to say.

"Eh, that is to say," Rin reiterated, "That he lives a long time, and can't die by usual means...oh, what is that word?" He turned to Sebastian for aide.

"I believe you are looking for, 'immortal'". Sebastian huffed. For all the power he could sense in this child, he was...well, a _child_. Mental capacity included, apparently.

"Yeah, that."

Rin felt the throb in his skull get worse. Was this some kind of side effect? "Hey, I know I'm kind of late to the party," Rin explained, feeling a rush of dizziness that made him sway on his feet. _'Definitely a side effect. Just stay standing a little bit longer now.' _"But can I go back to bed? This stupid translating thing is starting to affect me...side effect." He explained as simply as he could, hoping he could leave before he fell over. What a great way to leave a first impression on someone, fainting in their dining room.

"Um, sure." Ciel motioned for Sebastian to guide him back to his room. Rin didn't notice the concern on his face, nor did he notice at what point he stopped seeing anything.

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Their guest stayed in his room the remainder of that day and into the next evening. It wasn't until the following evening that he was seen in any manner that was not unconscious.

"Good evening," Ciel said in surprise as the boy appeared before his office threshold. "You've been unconscious for quite a while. Sebastian and I were becoming concerned that the change of environment may have been too much of a shock for you, what with you coming from...so far away." Ciel explained, watching their demonic guest saunter into the room looking exactly like you would expect a person to after spending fourty eight hours comatose.

"Yeah, I guess I needed that...I haven't slept in a while, come to think of it." Rin said, yawning away the sleep. "Life got pretty hectic before I got thrown back here, and then there was the translator thing on top of it...heh, thanks a lot for warning me, bastard." Rin mumbled the last bit under his breath. Ciel couldn't resist a smirk.

"Good to see you fully rested, then." Ciel paused in his thoughts, considering a question which had been on his mind the last few days. "Why do you sleep?"

"Huh?" Rin replied, confused as to what on earth could make that question come about.

"You are a demon, yes?" Ciel inquired half-heartedly. "Demons don't need to sleep, so..." A sudden bought of muffled laughter caught Ciel quite off guard.

"Oh, I get it now." Rin finally confessed after regaining his composure, though he didn't loose the mirth in his too-blue eyes. "You were under the impression I was a_ full _demon."

"Huh?" It was Ciel's turn to be confused. "Are you...not?"

"Nah, man, I'm a_ half-_demon." Rin explained with a dismissive wave. Ciel withheld his commentary for now about how rude the gesture was taken as, assuming that where ever the boy came from, it was not so. "Well, of kinds."

"A half-demon?" Ciel blinked curiously. He had never heard of such a thing. Didn't even...well, he supposed it was _possible_. Anything was possible, given his line of work.

"Yeah, but I'm not quite like your other servant – the one with all the snakes." Ciel didn't even try to stop the smile at the discomfort in his voice.

"He is a half demon, too?" Ciel supposed he already knew that, on some level. Snake always did have a certain ethereal air about him – but this boy didn't seem anything like that. Nothing at all.

"In what way are you different?" Ciel was all curiosity now. He had always had a certain amount of interest in the demonic, having a demon himself; but Sebastian was a very private person, and wouldn't share his secrets unless ordered to. Which reminded him...

"And why does Sebastian treat you like that?" Ciel asked. Rin only blinked at him in confusion.

"Like what?"

Ciel didn't have the words for it. "..Like a _demon_. He doesn't treat Snake that way at all. In fact, I think he is just as confused as I am about what you are." Ciel paused. A look, deep and fleeting, crossed the boy's face. In it came a kaleidoscope of feelings, deep, _honest_ feelings, which surprised Ciel more than anything he had seen in the boy yet.

"Well.." Rin took several moments to reply. "Frankly, I don't blame him." Ciel balked at the reply.

"I am not like other half demons. That much is true. My biological father was...well, he was a very powerful being." _'being?' _Ciel pondered. "I am the only one who inherited his powers, but I can't use them here."

"'Here' being the past, I take it?" Ciel offered empathetically. There was a definite moroseness to the boy's countenance, as if he were ashamed of himself in some way. _'I can relate to that. I know what it's like not to understand yourself. I think you, too, don't know what you are, and neither do I.' _Ciel pondered.

_'The problem is that I don't think Sebastian honestly knows what you are either. That means you're _**_unpredictable_**_. That makes you a potential problem. A potential _**_threat,_**_ if I'm being honest.' _Ciel wouldn't dare say such things aloud, but felt some sort of duty to remember that he was dealing with an unknown here. Who knew what kind of personality this boy truly was? After all, if there was one thing he had learned living with Sebastian, it's that you didn't trust anything a demon presented to you as truth, because more often than not, it was a lie in a pretty disguise.

"Yeah." Rin answered after some time. The silence following was not uncomfortable, but the air definitely had a certain weight to it. _'I don't know how long I can do this.' _Rin thought, mind feeling, appropriately, like the rusty gears of an antique clock. _'I don't know how long I can keep my power contained. I can't tell the truth to him, even though he's just a child...' _Rin frowned internally. _'No, because he is a child. He would be in grave, grave danger...in fact he still might be.' _Rin wanted to growl. He wanted to hit something, to let off energy now that he'd been sleeping for...however long he'd been out for. But more than anything..._'I wish I wasn't here. Damnit! There's nothing I can do, and that's...grrrrrr!' _

"Are you alright?"

_'I don't want to see a kid die. Definitely don't want to see a kid die. But I may not be able to do anything – even if I could, I can't reveal my powers here...Mephisto's note didn't say anything about altering the past, so I can probably get away with something, but how? If I use any energy at all, demons from all over are going to concentrate here – it's a miracle they aren't already, given the barrier.' _Rin sighed externally this time. That was one thing which perhaps disturbed him about this place, gave him the deep, seeping sense of foreboding that he had since he walked in; it wasn't the presence of a demon here that bothered him, but the _absence_ of any other creature, besides maybe that snake guy – but even he seemed to sense something. Knew something, maybe...oh, but the snakes! Rin shuddered to think of trying to carry on a conversation with all the slithering things watching him.

"Rin!"

"Huh?" Only then did Rin realize that the kid had been trying to get his attention – probably for a while, given the concerned and simultaneously irritated look on his face.

"You were spacing out there for a while." Ciel answered, voice soft. It was then that Rin suddenly sensed a second presence in the room, whirling around just as Sebastian entered the doorway.

"Is everything alright?" Sebastian inquired, peering in. Rin felt an urge to bare his teeth at the man, but knew he had just been startled, that's all. "Y-yeah..." Rin answered quietly, averting his gaze. He didn't need to make a confrontation now, especially not in front of the kid.

"You seem a bit...jumpy." Ciel observed aloud. "I suppose it's to be expected, but if you should need to retire, you needn't ask."

"I...no, I'm fine. Just lost in my thoughts." Rin shook his head as if to physically dislodge the disturbing spiral he'd just about gone down. He knew better than to think too much, especially when he was frustrated or upset. He had a much, much harder time controlling his flames when he got himself worked up.

_'no need for any of that, now. I just gotta focus on finding Mephisto, and getting out of here, before any...accidents, happen.' _

"Do you have something I can do?" Rin asked. Ciel was taken aback by the request. Seeing the need to explain further, Rin continued, "It's just...I'm not used to resting so long, and I guess I'm feeling pretty restless. I'm used to doing stuff with my hands a lot." Rin explained, looking a bit sheepish.

"Well..." Ciel began, at a loss. It wasn't unusual for guests to request tasks to help around the household if they were staying a while, but he couldn't think of much to have the boy do. "I suppose you can help Sebastian about the house. He should be able to find a niche for you to work in." There was an exchange of glances between them, but Rin nodded in agreement.

"Also...thanks. For taking me in. And letting me sleep." Ciel was unaccustomed to being thanked, if his expression was any indication.

"You're welcome. And don't concern yourself with repaying me too much – whatever you find to do about the house should suffice. You will find I have few servants, so any job you can make Sebastian _not_ have to do," Ciel threw the butler a sly look. "I think we both would be grateful for."

"Indeed." Sebastian gruffed. "In one way, I appreciate the workload the household gives me, since it keeps me busy," He turned to Rin, "But at the same time, I would appreciate the help."

"In other words he wants to be lazy, because I make him do everything the hard way." Ciel said, mostly to himself. He grinned silently, in a very self-satisfied way.

"Go on then. Off with you. And introduce him to the staff while you're at it, now that he is awake"

"Yes, my lord."

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**Whoo! Took me too long to write this and get it up. **

**Reviews are appreciated, and be sure to fav/follow if you like. :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this has been so long coming, but that poll had some...unexpected results.**

**It was a firm tie! Imagine my horror! **

**Seriously, though, I have had to revise some plot points, and I'm going to, fingers crossed, incorporate both situations here. Even if it doesn't end up going quite the way I planned, I can't deny that I appreciate a challenge now and then. Mwahahaha.**

**Now, I had no idea where this chapter was going to go before I wrote it, so my apologies if it's a bit odd. Gotta add some filler detail for later chapters, y'know. **

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"_Give me Rust over Gold,_

_Like a strength when I'm old,_

_A balance between the Light and Dark_

_and a Cause to uphold;_

_Give me Love over Hate,_

_A meaningful fate,_

_And an honest and humble ability to appreciate._

_'_

_Do you ever stop to think, "how come"?_

_Have you ever wondered why we're so numb?_

_Though it may not matter in the end,_

_I just can't help but ask,_

"_Will we ascend the Weak End?"_

_'_

_Give me Rust over Gold,_

_Like a strength when I'm old,_

_A balance between the Light and Dark_

_and a Cause to uphold;_

_Give me Love over Hate,_

_A meaningful fate,_

_And an honest and humble ability to appreciate."_

_~The Weak End, _by Shawn James.

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The morning had been quiet, the house's guest having been formally introduced to the servants just about an hour before. Sebastian ended up assisting the poor boy with dressing himself, after he had wandered into the dining room for breakfast – which he had all but wolfed down, he might add – looking like a disheveled sewer rat, his waistcoat borrowed from Finnian looking entirely ridiculous where he had apparently tried to close it further than it's buttons necessitated, if his complaint about the low collar was any indication. Sebastian had then had to explain to him that there was, in fact, a difference between a _vest _and a _waistcoat_. Ciel had found the affair somewhat amusing, but his mind couldn't seem to dwell upon the feeling for very long. It was a bit odd, if he were being honest with himself. But then, so was their guest.

Ciel sat in his office, casually ignoring his paperwork in favor of reading one of those _penny dreadful's_ he managed to sneak into his coat pocket the last time he had been in town – coincidentally on the same day he had met Rin. Sebastian had told him before that it was bad press to be seen with them, since they were, in effect, just printed fairy tales; however, Ciel had been reading the penny dreadful since he was a boy, back when his father would occasionally sneak one past his mother to read to them in his spare time. She had never approved of telling such scary stories to children, but Ciel was honestly grateful for them, in a strange, sardonic way. He had often thought it that his own backstory would make a fine addition to those pages, were he to pay a writer well enough to actually stomach the information.

But Ciel wouldn't do such a thing. Not only was this a burden he fully planned on carrying to his grave by himself, but to say it disturbed him to think of someone so...publicly affiliated, getting his hands on that sort of 'dirt' as they called it...No, it would ruin him. Go beyond ruining him, if he were being honest with himself about it.

But since when had be been interested in doing _that_.

Shaking his head to dislodge such brooding thoughts, Ciel decided it would be better if he had some kind of snack; just a small thing, a little bit of something sweet to help keep the bitter thoughts at bay.

"You have perfect timing." Ciel remarked as the door began to open; he needn't see his butler's face yet to know it was him. " I was just about to request you make me something to snack on." Sebastian's face changed unexpectedly when he said that, suggesting that the young master might not appreciate what he was about to be told. He could only sigh.

"Lay it on me."

"Well, young master," Sebastian began, "It's actually rather coincidental you say so, because it would seem our guest has an avid..._ interest _in cooking." Sebastian remarked with an even expression. "Which is unto itself not that odd; however..."

"Cooking?" Ciel got stuck on that bit. "He wants to _cook_?"

"Yes, and seems to be quite skilled at it. Far more skilled than Balderoy is, in any case."

"You – you let him use the kitchen?! Without permission?" Ciel asked incredulously.

"Well, he had my permission." Sebastian muttered. Ciel put his face in the palm of his hand exasperatedly. "I take it he is the one making lunch, then?"

"Correct. I figured it would be wise to let him go with a smaller meal, in the event his cooking is not suited to your taste – however, given his considerable familiarity with a kitchen – or so he claims – I do not honestly think that is going to be a problem."

"My, Sebastian. Look at you, being _optimistic _for once."

"I do try, young master." Sebastian replied with a dry smile.

"Speaking of which," Ciel decided to catch the moment while it lasted – while Sebastian's guard was down and his mood at ease. "I can not help but notice that you often seem to carry a different kind of disposition around our new guest – may I ask why?" Ciel knew just as well as Sebastian that it was not a request. As predicted, Sebastian's face changed in it's own, subtle way as to indicate that his guard was flying high once more – and yet, he seemed mostly unfazed. Ciel supposed that perhaps he had misjudged the timing, or else his butler was definitely up to no good. When the only response he got was silence, Ciel dropped the polite facade.

"You do know I can order you to inform me." Ciel said tersely. He was in no mood for games.

"I am aware." Was the uncharacteristically brisk reply.

"Then why are you so reluctant?" The question left Ciel's mouth before he could stop it. He supposed he did want to know what the deal was, but he hadn't exactly planned on being so blunt about it. Sebastian was, as a fundamental individual, (for Ciel was not yet certain he would quantify the demon as a _person_, in all situations) quite short of patience, and yet he possessed, and therefore demanded, a certain level of tact, which he shamelessly required of other people in order to be remotely tolerable.

In short, his demon was anasshole, one that didn't like it when people refused to dance to his tune of things. It was such a _demon_ thing to be that Ciel had to put effort into halting a bark of laughter, knowing it would not aide the situation, and quite possibly make the butler more inflamed.

"There are things humans are not meant to understand." Was the tense reply. It was Ciel's turn to be caught off guard, not expecting such a dour response. "For all intents and purposes, young master, I would not seek to inquire about it much farther. Not now." Sebastian's countenance held an unexpectedly taciturn sort of repose; a quietness, meekness almost, that he couldn't recall having ever known his butler to possess. Like he was guarding a grave secret that he regretted not being able to tell.

Ciel supposed that, in a way, he was doing just that.

"...Very well. But my curiousity won't be abated by simply stewing about it; and try as I may, it is...difficult, I suppose, for me to see you behave so differently. It's utterly bizarre, from my position; after all, I am no demon. I do not understand the ways of your kind beyond any experiences I have with you – which aren't sufficient enough to explain away my curiousity." Just then, Sebastian let out a low chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" Ciel asked gruffly.

"My, young master, could you be _concerned_ about me?" the demon smirked with a knowing smile, which naturally irritated his young master to no end. "Whatever shall I do with this privilege?" he remarked sarcastically. Ciel growled under his breath.

"Go rot in a hole."

"Ah, that's the young master I know." Sebastian smiled, more genuinely this time – if you could call a demon's smile genuine, that is.

"Hmf. Go get me a cake. I don't care how, or who from." Ciel demanded, concealing his embarrassment. He wasn't doing a very effective job, if the lingering upturning of his butler's lips was any indication.

"As you wish, my lord."

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The next few days had Rin quite busy around the manor. He had confessed to the boy that he liked working with his hands, and Sebastian had agreed to allow him to assist with the daily rounds, provided he didn't make a nuisance of himself.

Which, naturally, is exactly what he was doing now.

"I'm telling you, you have to disinfect it!" Rin insisted eagerly, gesturing to the unwashed table beneath them. It was a butcher block, riddled with marks from probably hundreds of chops and slices – Rin didn't want to think about the scorch marks – and this guy, their supposed "chef", for all that that turned out to be (Rin really didn't buy it, but hey, he was in no position to complain) had put fresh, _clean_ vegetables on a _dirty_ table after cutting the trimmings from the pork on it. Honestly! You weren't even supposed to use the same cutting board for these things!

"An' I'm telling you, some soapy water washes it off just fine!" Balderoy argued. Rin sighed, irritated. His hands found his hips in a traditionally feminine manner, leading the observing Sebastian to smirk at the gesture. Turns out the boy wasn't lying about his being the "family house-keep".

"And I know that that's a good way to make people sick! Really sick!" Rin insisted. "You can't cut vegetables on the same table that you cut raw meat – that has parasites in it, you know!"

"I know that! But no one's gotten sick yet!"

"So? That's not a valid excuse to be unhygenic!"

"Well it can't be that bad if no one's gotten sick now, can it?"

"Yes, it most definitely can! You realize you're serving that to a _kid_, right?" Rin's temper, which had until then been swirling in convection, sprung to a low simmer. "He doesn't have the immune system to fend off an infection like that – hell, worst case scenario, he could _die_ from some of those diseases!" Rin's simmer became a rolling boil, his chest getting a bit tight –

"That's enough, both of you." Sebastian, sensing the (literal) shift in atmosphere, decided it best to intervene. _'That boy wasn't kidding about his energy 'flaring up' around his temper. He did say he could burst aflame when cross, but to think his energy is this reactive...I shall have to reconsider my surveillance of him, so as not to bring it to his attention. Better not to startle a slumbering giant, lest you get stepped on and crushed.' _Or in Sebastian's case, burned to death. He would have to be extra careful not to incite something within the boy, lest he literally ignite. _'It takes but a spark to start a fire, as they say. Never has that been more true in my life.' _

"Now," Sebastian said, clapping his hands together as he stepped between the two of them. The lingering energy that roiled off of Rin in waves made the demon want to shudder in what could have been a delightful way, were he not simultaneously struck wary by his survival instincts. _'You are certainly quite the terror, for such a human creature.' _"Balderoy," Sebastian addressed the cook with a stern look that communicated, quite effectively, that he should not try to argue with the butler. A defeated look in the older man's eyes appeased Sebastian back to contentedness. "You will have to do a thorough cleaning of this cutting table – and yes, that does include disinfecting it. Honestly," Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose in disappointment. "you of all people should understand the hazards of poisoned meat, be it poisoned of biological means or not." Rin, confused by the statement, thought better of asking when he caught the hurt look in Bard's eyes. _'What happened there?' _

"Er...right." Balderoy admitted with a defeated look. When his pale eyes wandered their way over to Rin, however, there remained a dim light of fight in them – as if he wasn't admitting he was wrong by standing down, merely putting a stopper in their conversation just then. It made Rin want to smile.

_'Ryuji does that all the time.' _

Rin's smile was struck into a frown when he realized what he had thought. A pained frown, from which he was suddenly unsure how to escape. _'Ryuji...god, I miss you. I miss all of you. All my friends...' _Rin decided it was a bad idea to dwell on this. It was a bad idea to think about people you couldn't help. People who, for all Rin knew, could be in serious peril...

"Are you alright, young man?" Rin was startled back into reality by the unfamiliar voice of the resident maid, with whom he was reminded he shared half a name.

"Oh..." Rin replied dully, coming to his senses slower than he'd of liked. "Yeah, I'm fine." he lied. "Just a bit tired, that's all."

"Boy, mister," She remarked sheepishly, her too-thick glasses catching the light in a way which did Rin's aching heart no justice. "If I may say so, you sure seem to sleep...well, more than the average guest." She said timidly, as though unsure if she would offend him. "If I may be so bold as to ask," She said, looking to Sebastian breifly as though asking his permission first. Honestly, it didn't surprise Rin at that point. "Are you perhaps ill in some way?"

It took Rin what felt like a full minute to process what she just asked him. Something about the word 'ill' didn't seem right to him, but he supposed he was in a different time period... "Oh? No, no, I'm not sick or anything."

"That's a relief to hear." And indeed, it seemed so, because she visibly relaxed at the affirmation. Rin supposed that made sense; these were people who lived without antibiotics and, apparently, common sense (where it regarded hygeine) so it made sense they would worry about a sick guest spreading something unpleasant to the rest of them.

"I'm not sick, I'm just...high energy?" Rin tried to offer some sort of alternative explanation, but fell short of any that he could reliably say to a human. "I guess what I'm saying is that I burn through food really fast, so I get tired easily if I don't get enough to eat –" Rin immediately regretted his decision to inform her of his chronic fight with his blood sugar – for that was honestly a problem that he had, being as he had such a fast metabolism – for she got a disturbingly concerned look in her eye.

"Oh, but please," He rushed to remedy her concerns, afraid of what they might entail. "You don't need to do any extra work like cooking more food for me, or anything like that." Rin waved his hands in front of him dismissively, a sheepish smile on his face. "I can take care of it myself just fine, as long as I have access to the kitchen."

"Ah, so that is what that was about this morning." Sebastian nodded, speaking more to himself than to Rin – who felt like he'd swallowed a rock.

"W'well," Rin stammered nervously, unsure where this was going. "I have a lot of energy to upkeep, you know? So it makes sense that I have to eat a lot...right?" Rin felt his tail twitch in his pant leg, mentally begging the appendage to stay still so as not to be seen.

"True, I suppose." Sebastian agreed, much to Rin's surprise. He nodded, fingertips on his chin, before looking Rin over with a cool gaze. It wasn't quite calculating, but more_ thinking_ – not that that made Rin any more comfortable with it.

"You have free access to the kitchen then, per my authority. Since I am not sure on what schedule you typically eat, I will just leave it open at all times; I simply ask that you replenish anything you deplete, or else that you inform me first before you take the last of any particular supply." Rin was somewhat awe-struck by the offer, but his excitement was nothing on the maid, who looked at Sebastian now as if he was insane.

"You – he's a guest, I suppose, but..." Mey-Rin said cautiously. "Will the young master really be okay with this?"

"It will be fine. You underestimate the...for lack of a better word, understanding, nature of our master." Sebastian explained non-chalantly, his hands gesturing the same. "He will be quite tolerant of this arrangement, I assure you."

"You're really sure? I don't want our guest to be in trouble..."

"He won't be, so please do not concern yourself about it." Mey-Rin was reluctant to take Sebastian at his word initially – it was odd enough to let a guest use the kitchen for the household, but to then let him use it for himself, at any time he pleased? Why, it was hardly the standard level of decorum one handed to a guest...unless...

"Oh, I see. I think I understand now." Sebastian quirked a brow at her sudden shift in mood, for Mey-Rin became all of a sudden quite cheery. Never a good sign, if he was the judge. Mey-Rin then threw Sebastian a smile which betrayed her innocent trouble, creeping up to Sebastian's ear to whisper what was sure to be whatever truth she surmised from the situation.

"Our guest is no ordinary guest, is he?" Sebastian had to reel a moment from the astuteness of the observation, though he supposed it was quite obvious.

"You are correct, in a sense," Sebastian whispered back. "But do tell me, what kind of guest do you make him to be?"

"Well," She confessed like a true woman of gossip – which she was far, far from in reality, mind you – "I think he is a guest of honor in some manner, or else why would you go out of your way to adapt to his taste so much?" Sebastian paused his thoughts to consider her own. She did make a point, and certainly wasn't completely wrong.

"Well, I can't confirm with you the details," Sebastian whispered back, though he picked up his voice at the end to indicate that he was preparing to end this conversation, mostly due to the mounting pressure that the eyes of their guest kept pressing into his back. "but I can assure you he is, in a sense, a 'guest of honor'. Best you not let the other servants know, however." Sebastian cautioned. "His true identity must remain a secret, for his benefit and the young master's." Mey-Rin might not have been much of a gossip whore, but she relished secrets almost as much as one in Sebastian's opinion. Nothing got that girl's attention like the obscure and secretive – given her past, however, the butler could more than imagine why.

"You can put your faith in me, Sebastian, Sir!" She nodded emphatically, clearly overjoyed at having been, in effect, thrown a bone. "I won't tell a soul, no I won't!"

"Good girl." Sebastian couldn't help himself. It was just too entertaining. "Now run along, you still have chores to do." He admonished her with a simple pat to the top of her head – an action which, for reasons that entirely escaped him, she found to be endearing. With a blush and a pleasant squeak, she turned and left the kitchen entirely.

"You remind me of Mephisto."

The sentence could not have startled, nor offended, the demon more. With a dour huff, Sebastian turned to face their guest, keeping his composure. "And as for you," Sebastian said kurtly, not at all content with having been compared to that back-stabbing devil. "I would greatly appreciate it if you did not compare the two of us, yes?"

"Huh? But why?" Rin seemed genuinely, and dumbly, confused by this. Sebastian supposed that it would not hurt to impart at least a little bit of the truth to the boy, if only because he was honestly afraid of the consequences he would have to endure if he were caught lying.

"Let's just say that that man and I are...not particularly on speaking terms, to say the least."

"So you don't like each other?"

"Oh no, quite the opposite." Sebastian admitted. "At least, he would like to think so."

"Oh. I see." Rin said suddenly, sounding quite empathetic. "I get it." He told Sebastian confidently, shaking his head. "You don't have to explain the rest if you don't want to." Sebastian, caught off guard by the sudden turn in the conversation, was more taken aback by the boy's apparent sympathy than the dull sense of reflection contained in his eyes. He did, after all, say that Mephistopheles was his _sibling_; that had to be quite a different relationship than what Sebastian had with the man, and frankly he didn't envy the child for it.

"To be honest," Sebastian said, though the look the boy gave him would suggest that he did not find anything about the butler to be 'honest', "I can sympathize with your struggles with that man, if nothing else." Rin's disconcerting face brightened at the admission, which insofar as Sebastian was capable was, in fact, honest. "Thank you." Sebastian couldn't help but be confused by his statement.

"Whatever for?" Sebastian inquired, genuinely bewildered as to what he was being thanked for. Rin, seemingly tired of the conversation, stretched his arms over his head and turned towards the door, before throwing over his shoulder a most vital piece of information, insofar as Sebastian was concerned.

"For actually being honest with me. I appreciate that."

Sebastian, still feeling a little flabbergasted, could only smile after the boy.

Truly, he was a strange child.

A strange demon.

A strange being.

And above all, he was a perfect stranger.

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**Ok, that took me way too long to upload. Sorry guys. **

**So, I'm still just trying to flesh out the main character interactions right now, because things are going to start heating up soon...I hope. **

**Anyway, for those who may not know, a Penny Dreadful was a kind of popular magazine during Victorian times which published small-scale and short story writers, most famously Edgar Allan Poe, whom made his debut in England by way of these magazines. They specialized in scary or strange stories, and often were a pence a piece, hence the term "Penny Dreadful". Arthur Conan Doyle also made a debut in the penny dreadfuls, as did Bram Stoker at one point. Mary Shelley came long after these magazines went out of fashion, but she did publish several short stories that circulated through the newspapers. **

**Next chapter will have some warnings, but until then!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here I am, writing this in spite of myself. **

**So, an apology I suppose is owed. Holidays this year have been a nightmare from hell, (not the good kind) and on top of that I've seriously injured myself, and the pain is pretty severe, which makes me want to do nothing but sleep – so expect that updates are going to be extremely unpredictable for a while. Coincidentally our protagonist is also gravely injured in this piece (which wasn't intentional – this has been sitting unfinished in a draft since before christmas) and with that said – **

**WARNING! WARNING! = There is GORE in this chapter, but don't worry – Rin heals fast. :)**

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"_Blood on my shirt,_

_Rose in my hand,_

_You're looking at me like you don't know who I am._

_Blood on my shirt,_

_Heart in my hand,_

_Still **beating**..."_

_~ TEETH, by Five Seconds of Summer_

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The morning was unusually bright and cloudless for a late autumn day in Great Britain, but Ciel would welcome the relief from the dull, dreary humidity that typically infected the place like a mild plague. He'd take any relief he could find right now, given that he held still in his hand a most inopportune letter, addressed to himself, from...

_'Aunt Francis.' _Ciel thought with a mental shudder. _'You truly have the most terrible sense of timing. I have a guest staying at the house...maybe I should write a letter back? Ah, but there's no time...it'd never make it to her in time...shit.' _Ciel mentally cursed. He loved his aunt, but really – was there any need to procrastinate in sending these letters until the last minute?! _'She says she will be here this weekend, which is only three days away! I have to find some way of postponing this, at least until he can be trained...'_

"My, young master, what troubles you?" Sebastian approached the garden table that the Earl sat at, per the butler's request, with a tray of various tarts.

"Aunt Francis..." Ciel sighed begrudgingly. He hadn't informed Sebastian yet, though the mention of his notoriously prudish aunt sent a self-concerned expression over the demon's face.

"She apparently will be here this weekend, if she has things her way...which, considering how she is, she will..." Ciel hung his head with a defeated expression. "Apparently Edward has been acting up lately, whatever that's supposed to mean, and she saw it fit to have an 'emergency' family dinner..." Ciel frowned as he said this, still trying to mull through the possible implications of that particular part of the letter.

He had, after all, sent the Midfords on a mission to assist him with the kidnapping and murder cases, which they had obviously obliged to, given what happened to Lizzy..._'I prefer not to consider her much these days, and I'm sure she feels the same. It will be strange to see her for supper, considering what has happened between us.' _Ciel pushed the thoughts of his troubled fiance away – after all, there was no guarantee she would be attending this impromptu dinner, and Ciel doubted very much that Francis would be so cruel as to force her attendance...

"That leaves us three days to prepare." Sebastian interrupted his master's thoughts with a flick of his wrist, observing the time on his watch briefly before closing it with a soft snapping sound. "Am I to assume the entire Midford family will be attending for dinner?"

"You may as well; she didn't specify who was coming, or even when she would be here, citing that it was an 'emergency'." Ciel frowned. "I'm still not sure what she meant by that, but we are sure to find out."

"And our guest?" Sebastian prompted.

"You will have to have him dinner-ready in three days time. I trust that won't be any trouble for you?" Ciel smirked knowingly.

"Not at all, my lord."

Ciel felt a chill in his spine before his ears even registered the sound – a stark, stirring _scream_ that carried through the clear air with enough ferocity to silence the birds nearby, leaving the grounds sullenly silent for a moment while the Earl prepared to act. His fight-or-flight instincts told him to freeze, then run – but run where? Where had the sound come from?

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ciel shouted, startled out of his wits.

"I do not know, but it sounded like someone's been hurt." Sebastian no more than finished his sentence and was running toward the east wing of the manor, where the stables were kept. It then dawned on Ciel that Finnian had been meant to thatch the roof of it today...with Rin assisting him.

"Wait! Wait, I say!" Ciel called after his butler, his legs moving him to follow the man before he was even consciously aware of what he was doing. A thousand and one bad scenarios flitted through his mind before he had even taken several steps, his heart still pounding furiously in his ears like a drum. _'What the bloody hell happened?! And who screamed?' _These questions and dozens more came and went from his mind like swells of an angry ocean, his body pushing him to go faster, to catch up with the butler in front of him –

Who abruptly stopped dead in his tracks, leading the earl to slam into his backside painfully. For him, that is.

"Ow!"

"Finnian? Are you alright?" Ciel looked around his butler when he registered the confused concern in Sebastian's voice. So, it _wasn't_ Finnian who got hurt.

"Finnian?" Ciel looked at his servant, and decided that he could very well have come to the wrong conclusion, as his servant looked positively shocked out of his wit, his skin wet with sweat and skin so pale you could count the branching tendrils of his veins on every crevice of him. He looked to the ground, doubled over as if to vomit, his breathing indicating that he had been running towards them just as they had – or else that he was totally panicked.

"H-h-h..." Finnian tried to speak, but the tremble in his body left a stutter on his voice, it seemed.

"Calm down," Sebastian instructed calmly, holding his hands out as if to catch the boy if he fell. Which he seemed likely to in his condition. "Are you hurt? If so, where?"

"N-n-not me," Finnian choked out, half-retching over his shoulder. "I..." Finnian's voice got really quiet just then, his face becoming impossibly more pallid.

"I think he's dead."

Sebastian quirked a brow at this, confused, before understanding lit up his dark eyes.

"Show me." Finnian looked up at the butler for the first time, incredulous expression betraying what an absurd idea he found that to be. However, his dismay didn't last, a defeated and frankly exhausted look overcoming him. He then looked over at Ciel, his expression concerned. "You should go inside, young master." Finnian said with absolutely zero discourse. It wasn't so much a suggestion as a demand, though in this instance Ciel wouldn't comment on it.

"I agree that this might not be the best thing for our young master to witness." Sebastian affirmed, throwing a leery glance at Ciel.

"Hogwash." He sputtered indignantly " Our guest has been injured – it would be prudish of me not to see that he is well, or dead – whichever the case may be." Ciel said proudly, stiffening his back in spite of his fear. What was he going to walk into? He had no idea, but whatever it was, Finnian had pronounced their guest dead for it. Whether he was actually dead, Ciel had his doubts, but it never hurt to be sure.

"That's my young master." Sebastian smirked, before going off toward the stables, which were just around the corner.

"Wait!" Finnian, having suddenly seemed to regain his senses, tried to chase after Sebastian, before finding himself chasing his young master as well.

To say that they had walked in on a scene from a horror novel didn't quite do the reality of the situation justice.

"What happened?" Ciel demanded once they'd all arrived. He looked on, in anger more than the horror he should have felt, at Rin, who lied belly-up...impaled by a wooden stake in the ground. It had pierced him through the right side, clean from back to belly, and he wasn't moving. His head lie in the mud below, as did the ends of his feet, his back arched double what Ciel would have suspected it capable with the weight of the stake-turned-pike running through him.

"He w-was atop the roof, see," Finnian tried to explain through trembling lips. "He was trying to put in a new rafter, but the old one broke, so he threw it to the ground like so..." Finnian turned green mid-sentence, turning his face away from the messy scene. Ciel could understand his feelings, though to be honest, he probably would be in the same state himself, were it not for the lack of blood visible to them. The piece of wood kept it safely inside of him for now, a mere trickle finding it's way down the spine of the wood to the earth below.

"Go on," Sebastian urged.

"W'well, see, the rafter he was on was slick, 'cause it hadn't had time to dry yet, and he slipped..." Finnian gagged at the thought, clearly quite disturbed by it all.

"That's enough now." Ciel said finally, out of pity more than concern. Finnian was going to be sick at this rate, and even he wasn't sadistic enough to push his servants that far. "You can go and rest for a while."

"Are you alright, young master?" Ciel supposed he should have expected that Finnian would ask him something like that, but it took him by surprise nonetheless.

"Yes, I'm –"

Ciel didn't get to finish his sentence before a low moan drew the three of their's attention to Rin, who shifted his head to the side, eyes blinking open slowly.

"Ow..." He groaned. Ciel wasn't honestly that surprised he was alive, but that he was _conscious_?

"You...you're alive?!" Finnian cried. He sounded both estatic and completely panicked. "Oh my god, you're alive! Sebastian, call an ambulance! No, actually, just get him to a hospital!" Finnian was frantic, bouncing back and forth on his heels.

"Finnian. Finnian. FINNIAN." Sebastian called his name loudly until he got the servant's full attention.

"Now, there'll be no need for any of that," Finnian went to protest, but was cut off before he could do so. "Now, if you want to make yourself useful, go get Mey-Rin and tell her we need some white cloths to abate the bleeding." Sebastian opened his mouth as if to finish his list of commands, but stopped short when both he and Ciel seen the very maid herself approaching them, Balderoy and Tanaka in tow.

"What – eek!" Mey-Rin cried when she seen the sorry state of their guest. Balderoy seemed largely unfazed, but Ciel knew that was just years of active military training kicking in; if he looked close enough he could see the shift in the man's eyes. "What happened here?"

"Our guest has been injured." Sebastian said flatly. "Mey-Rin, I need you to go put on a pot of boiling water, and get some clean white cloths for us. Collect some clean bandaging while you are at it."

"Yes, sir!"

"Now go," Mey-Rin bounded off, and Sebastian turned to Tanaka with a subtle bow. "Tanaka, if you can, I'd like you to accompany her. She can be a bit untrustworthy with a pot of hot water, as you know. Assist her in whatever way you can." Tanaka nodded, and went after her.

"Finnian, Balderoy, I need both of you to help me remove the stake."

"Huh?" They both said in unison, sharing a concerned expression.

"Hey," Rin, until then silent, decided to reveal that he was not only conscious, but able to speak as well. "Can you, like, pull me off of this thing? I don't want all that dirt and stuff in my wound, it'll take forever to heal."

"Y-you can still talk through all that?" Balderoy seemed both surprised and impressed. "I guess I've seen stranger, but I'll commend you for your grit, kid."

"What, this?" Rin looked at his injury tellingly. "Nah, this is nothing. I've had way, way worse than just being impaled, believe me."

"Worse?" Finnian muttered under his breath.

"Yeah...oh, Finnian..." Rin looked at the gardener, his eyes, bright and lively in spite of the pain amidst the edges of them, turned concerned as he did so. "You don't look to good."

"S-Speak for yourself!" Finnian shouted, astounded. Ciel couldn't blame him – to think that amidst his own crisis, this boy would still think of others...

_'You really are a strange one, Rin.' _

"I said I'm fine, and I mean it –" A pained grunt seemed to disagree with his words as he unintentionally wriggled on the stake. "'sides, I've been run through before...granted, it was with a sword, not a piece of wood, but still..." Balderoy let out a nervous laugh.

"You're tougher than you look, kid." He smiled warmly despite the edge in his voice. "C'mon, let's get you off that thing, okay?"

Ciel didn't have the heart to look as Finnian, Sebastian and Balderoy surrounded the fully-awake boy and began to lift. The stake wasn't terribly tall, but tall enough that it was a longer way off of it being lifted, than if they'd of yanked it out through him. But then, Ciel supposed his logic did make sense, what with there being a sludge of mud and horse manure, no doubt, beneath them.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Rin cried, and though it was somewhat comical, Ciel couldn't help but cringe at the true pain that lingered in each one.

"You were the one who decided to take the long way." Sebastian reminded him.

"Yeah, because I'm not indestructible, you know! Dirt makes wounds take longer, and while I can't get sick with infections, I can get sick from viruses – and who knows what on earth is down there in that stinking mud!" Rin complained, Ciel turning to look at them right as Sebastian unceremoniously dropped him to the ground.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, my hand slipped." Sebastian offered him a shy, leering smile, which only seemed to irritate Rin more.

"'my hand slipped' my_ ass_." Rin accused.

"And you're a spry one, too." Balderoy observed, taking Rin's attitude with a well-trained good nature. The easiest way to keep injured people from panicking was to avoid doing so yourself, Aunt Ann used to say...Ciel remembered her fondly for a moment, before picking up and moving on with assessing the situation.

"Sebastian, bring him inside and dress his wounds. I'm sure he will need a bath later as well."

"With that size hole in 'im?" Balderoy addressed his young master with real concern this time.

"He's a lot like Sebastian," Ciel offered, " He'll be fine. Besides, Sebastian can always stitch him up if necessary." All eyes looked toward the butler, then, their glances affirming what they already knew – that if anyone could do anything, it was Sebastian.

"'Suppose that's true..." Balderoy took it for what it was, and let it be from there, offering to help Sebastian carry the injured guest into the house. Slung between Sebastian and Balderoy, he was taken inside, wincing all the way.

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Rin's wounds were cleaned up, Sebastian being the designated nurse for the evening. Rin couldn't honestly say he enjoyed having so much private company with the demon, never mind how utterly exposed he was to attack, with no clothes on (apparently underwear didn't exist in this time era...yeah, that was an awkward conversation) but he supposed that if Sebastian really wanted to hurt him, he would have by now.

"Ow! Geez, would you be careful?" Rin snapped at the older demon. "This wound will close up in an hour to so, so just let it be!"

"You were the one concerned about infection; it must be at least washed. Besides, dried blood is a pain to remove from just about anything; I would know." Sebastian smiled that irritating smile which never failed to be as irritating as possible, just to be _irritating_.

"Tch, I'm sure you do." Rin snarked. Why did this guy have to remind him so much of Mephisto?

"By the way, Rin," Sebastian piped up, sitting back in his chair – they had taken up residence in a guest room that had an adjacent bathroom for Rin to wash in after the fact. Sebastian had brought in a metal tray full of what looked entirely too much like a real-life set of surgical equipment, including a metalic-looking thread, probably meant for stitches – but thankfully hadn't used any of them. Rin imagined it was more for show, since the servants didn't know about his regenerative power.

"Yeah?" Rin asked.

"There has been a bit of an unexpected change of plans for the days and weekend to follow." Rin quirked a brow at this, and was promptly horrified at what the butler said next: "There has been a bit of an urgent family meeting planned for this weekend, and seeing as how there's no way to hide you, the young master has instructed me to teach you proper table manners."

"Wait, _what_?"

"In other words," Sebastian said with an impish smile. "You will be joining the family for dinner."

"WHAT?!"

"Now, I will warn you that Aunt Francis, who has called this meeting, can be a bit...well, critical, so to speak, and will likely be just as critical of any impropriety. So for the next three days, you will have to do the best you can to learn as much as you can, and hope that she is more lenient with you because you are a foreigner." Rin felt faint suddenly, and he was pretty sure it wasn't because of blood loss.

"Rin? Are you all right? Rin?"

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**It has been too long, I know. I have some more exciting things planned for this, so hopefully I haven't lost too many of you. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well aren't I a liar, lol. **

**I decided to just blurb this out with a cute scene added for context in the future, because the next chapter is going to take a while to write and is going to hit hard on the heartstrings. **

**That said, I hope you enjoy!**

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"_Strike with the Strongest hand,_

_Search from the Sharpest eye,_

_Pull from the Greater side of your mind;_

_Tear down the wall that's stuck_

_In between soul and mind,_

_Watch as the worlds collide_

_And leave your shell behind."_

_~The Ripple, Broken Iris_

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The next two days seen Rin stretched to the limit of his means. His mental means, that is.

"Ugh, I don't understand? What the hell is the point of eating with one utensil versus another? Why does it matter what order you use silverware in?!"

"I understand that you are frustrated, but please try to remember as much as you can. Aunt Francis is an unforgiving woman."

"You're always saying 'aunt Francis' this, and 'aunt Francis' that – it's not like she's the queen!"

"No, but she is quite stern." Ciel butted in, sipping his mid-morning tea while he silently observed, and enjoyed, Rin's struggle. He knew the frustration all too well. "And when it comes to her, unfortunately, I don't have much of a say. She is my elder, after all, and family on top of that. The Midfords are also a valuable ally for my company, so starting a dispute with them is not something of little consequence." That was a bald-faced lie, since Francis would probably be a lot more forgiving of something minor like this, but it had to be said. Rin was potentially dangerous, and aunt Francis was nothing if not a cautious woman. The last thing he needed was for her to get too suspicious – she had enough problems with Sebastian as it was.

"Ugh, _politics_." Rin sighed exasperatedly. "Why is it always politics?"

"They're the bane of everyone's lives, believe me." Ciel smiled, standing to stretch. "Mine more so than anyone's."

"Young Master, why don't we have lunch in the garden today?" Sebastian offered. Ciel looked to the window, which bathed the drawing room they were using as a practice dining room in a soft, warm light.

"Yes, I think that will be a nice break for our guest." He spared a disgruntled Rin a soft look. Something about warm sunshine usually put him in a good mood.

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The garden felt clean. The air was cool and the wind subtle, but smelling distinctively of crisp dew. Rin loved days like this, when nature just seemed to melt into harmony.

He ignored how much it reminded him of home.

As they sat at the outdoor table, Sebastian served them a lunch of 'pigeon pie', which Rin almost hoped didn't have actual pigeon in it. He was surprised to find that it had liver in it instead.

"Ick!" Rin reeled from the bitter taste. "You could have mentioned it was a liver pie!" Sebastian only quirked a brow while Ciel laughed.

"Believe me it isn't my favorite either, but it's what we had on hand." Ciel excused, regaining his composure. "You don't like liver?"

"Not at all. That's definitely a Johann thing, not mine." Rin stuck out his tongue in distaste, wishing for the organ-taste to go away already. But there was something fatty in the dish that made the gross biley taste stick to the roof of his mouth, increasingly making him want to gag.

"That's...unusual, I must say." Sebastian commented casually. "But then, I suppose there's no sense calling the kettle black, as they say."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Sebastian admonished with a soft smile. A rare one, if Rin were to guess. "You're simply quite unlike any demon – or half demon for that matter – I have met. It's stirred quite the curiosity in me at times, and this is no exception."

"What, because I don't like organ meat? That stuff is gross. Leave that to Amaimon, not me."

"Amaimon?" Ciel asked. He wasn't familiar with _that_ name.

"Tch, a big ugly brute with more strength than common sense." Rin huffed. "He's a bully and a cheat, and he doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'no' unless Mephisto tells him so." Rin jumped a little at the name, but once he seen no one correcting him, calmed. "He's basically Johann's dog. Which is ironic, because Johann _is_ a dog."

"So that part of the myth is true. He does turn into a dog..." Ciel pondered. "What kind of dog?"

"Hell if I know. I don't even think he knows. It looks like some white terrier-thing."

"A terrier?" Ciel blinked in surprise. Of all the dogs to envision the devil as, a tiny, yappy terrier wasn't his first choice.

"Yeah, that look on your face is intentional." Rin scoffed. "He wants you to think he's adorable and cute and cuddly, but then he turns into a wolf when you're not paying attention." Rin eyed Sebastian then, making a point he intrinsically knew he didn't need to make. But he was feeling petty after all those "manners" lessons. "And that wolf will eat you alive if you let him. Believe me. I would know."

"I don't doubt it." Ciel admitted with a smile. "And this Amaimon character? Does he have an animal form?"

"Yeah, he does – actually I think he has several." Rin stopped to think for a minute. Amaimon looked kinda reptile-ey, when in his demon form... "I think his most natural form is probably some kind of lizard. I mean, his tail _is_ scaly." Rin paused, hand on his chin. "But I also seen him turned into a hamster once, though I'm pretty sure Johann did that to punish him..."

The sound of footsteps on the gravel distracted Rin from his thoughts, and he turned to see Finnian approaching at a fast walk, grasping something in his hands with a distressed look on his face.

"Hey Finny!" Rin called out to him, getting his attention. He and Finnian got along pretty well, it turned out. He was great fun to talk to, and funny, too.

"What's the matter?" Rin asked, concerned. He then smelled it.

"I found a bird," Finnian walked up to Rin then, unfolding his hands to reveal a tiny puffball. It shivered desperately, its wing drooping at an unnatural angle. "It's hurt."

Sebastian sighed nearby, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You always have a habit of finding these poor creatures." Sebastian held out a hand, presumably for the bird. Catching onto the situation before Finnian could hand it over, Rin instead grabbed Finnian's hand, pulling the injured bird, which had begun to vocalize, towards him.

"Wait," Rin said, observing the tiny, brown-green fluff. "Maybe I can help it." All three sets of eyes looked to Rin like he had grown an extra head, but he was used to that kind of thing. "Come here, little one." Rin whispered, offering his open palm to the bird, which cheeped at him surreptitiously. "I promise, I won't hurt you."

The bird stepped into Rin's hand, so light it was barely there. "It's okay little guy, I think I can make you better."

"How?" Finnian asked. "What are you going to do?"

"You remember what I said on the roof, before I fell?" Ciel looked quizically between them, not understanding what might have transpired, though the nod Finnian gave Rin made him a little unsettled. Then, Rin folded the tiny bird into his hands, much to the frightened animal's protest. "It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. Just trust me, okay?" Rin spoke to the bird as if it were a child. Ciel thought it a bit dumb, until he considered that Sebastian could communicate with cats, and Snake could talk to snakes, so why couldn't Rin talk to birds?

He then pulled his hands up to his lips, and Ciel could swear he felt the atmosphere _shift_. Energy, that's what it was. It had to be – and there was a hell of a lot of it, if even _he_ was feeling the effects. _'is this why Sebastian treats him with such respect?' _

He then began to speak, a soft, syllabic murmuring that Ciel didn't understand, but which reminded him of a mantra he had heard Agni say. Suddenly, a light, pale and faint, peered from between his fingers, illuminating the quivering shadow of the bird within. He then, of all things, _breathed_ into his clasped hands, causing a blue-coloured, transparent flame to flicker between his fingers, before disappearing entirely. Ciel, entranced by the display, barely noticed when the energy previously around him disappeared as well, taken all the sudden by the bird, which when Rin opened his hands seemed perfectly fine. Not a quiver in sight.

_'He healed it.' _

Ciel ran over the thought with awe, as he watched the little bird turn and bow to Rin, as if thanking him. It then flitted away, broken wing entirely forgotten. _'He healed it. But how? I didn't even think that a demon's power could be used for such a purpose...' _Ciel's amazement was drawn to a very abrupt close, however, when he remembered Finnian was standing right there. Finnian, who didn't know. Or, who wasn't supposed to know.

"Relax," Rin said, seeming to sense Ciel's distress. "He knows. I accidentally let my tail slip loose when we were on the roof – you know, just a reflex thing." Rin shrugged, giving an impish-looking Sebastian an apologetic smile. "My tail is useful for balance. I can't help it that I can't hide it."

"Yeah..." Finnian said quietly. Seemed he was just as awestruck by the phenomena as Ciel himself. "'sides, it's not like I'm a normal human either." Finnian shrugged, clearly finding no issue with it. It made Ciel wonder, not for the first time, how many of the servants knew what Sebastian was, or at least suspected.

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"Tomorrow's the big day, huh?" Rin said casually, lounging in Ciel's office after his "lessons" from Sebastian that morning.

"Hm." Ciel affirmed, internally dreading having to see his family, especially Lizzie... he hadn't formally talked to her since her kidnapping, and was privately hoping she just didn't show up...

"You know, I'm actually feeling really confident." Rin said suddenly, sitting bolt-upright in his chair with a serendipitous smile plastered on his face. It was such a rapid change of character that Ciel was still trying to get his head around it even after the boy stood up, his tail, exposed in the privacy of the office, swishing back and forth in what seemed to be excitement. "I feel like this is going to be okay, so don't you worry one bit." Rin flashed Ciel a charming smile then, meant by some measure to be reassuring, he was sure, though Ciel personally wasn't falling for it. That boy was a nervous wreck, and trying hard to hide it.

Ciel smiled back at him with a nod. Let him have it, Ciel thought. He was wound up enough as it was. Besides, this Rin character...seemed to have a way with things like that. Like he could always sense it the moment Ciel became distraught or upset, and always, without fail, he managed to either surprise the earl or comfort him in some way. Truly, it was quite the remarkable ability.

Remarkable for a demon, that is.

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**Yay! I got another chapter done. This was rushed, which I should think is pretty obvious, but I refused to let the bridge block my path on this one. Next chapter is going to be HUGE, and have lots of goodies and drama and angst and a myriad of other things, when Rin finally meets the Phantomhive's full range! Part of me feels bad for jumping the gun, but oh well. I can go back and fill in detail later. :P Until next time. **


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